London, 2026

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A few weeks back, I was contacted by Elizabeth Cliffhanger, a representative at A24 Films, regarding the soundtrack for a short film. All that was needed were a few minutes of music to complement the existing selection.

It all seemed quite attractive. The compensation was decent — not extravagant — and the brief itself was genuinely exciting. After several exchanges of emails, more documentation was sent over, including a well-written and seemingly legitimate agreement. Nothing felt suspicious at that stage — just an interesting opportunity to write to a brief, with potential exposure, connections, and, of course, additional income.
Well, it all seemed exciting until… the work was done and a draft was submitted for review.

It was almost too perfect. Within less than a day, the producers had accepted it. The work was “perfect” — no doubt about that — and so was the response. Everything was going smoothly… perhaps a little too smoothly.

Within that same day, another email arrived, wrapping up the entire process — all within a week — and confirming the compensation outlined in the contract. And then it hit me. It was all a scam. A carefully constructed one — convincing, detailed, and likely supported by strong AI tools — but a scam nonetheless. A few small inconsistencies had started to appear, just enough to raise doubt.

Of course, I immediately stopped all communication and halted the process. Unsurprisingly, I never heard from Elizabeth again.

So, long story short — I decided to release the music anyway, both to reclaim the experience and to protect the work. The result is The Cliffhanger Variations: four pieces for piano and various sound textures.